Automatic door-opening device



I. BALAZS.

I AUTOMATIC DOOR OPENING DEVICE APPLICATION FILED AIJG.28, I9I9.

IPHJIGIIII'BII IIIeu 1m; ML

2 SHEETS-SHEET l- J. BALAZ AUTOMATIC DOOR UPENINGDEVICE.

APPLICATION F ILED AUG.28, 1919.

9 MEL 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented] Ben. 13

lit ll thereover unlocks and opera tit] ject of dent ot' l ihce oi that l five in r ovem t Flt;

tntlord, ario in the lUomi or red certain in an. .Z-l'utomat' 1? will th: 1 1. no part no ie p pal objects out eliniina a the no" it tor car dismount" i open the r trage d lit to I the garage and to provide an which will operate automatica oi ht oi? the car passi oer arranged in the drvevra 'llhe principal. feature oi? the invention. consists in the novel construction and arrangement oil parts whereby a depressible :niember operated by the pas. ;e ot the car lever .n1en::tbers connectedwith the doors to cause them to swing outwardly and whereby said lever members are locked With the doors in the open position.

lln the drawings Figure 'l is a plan vievv showing the arrangement oi the driveay structure and the garage door operating structure, the garage being shown partly in section.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through one of the members operated by the car and ot the central part of the garage.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged elevational view of the apparatus for operating the door opening levers. V

Fig. 4tis an enlarged perspective and sectional detail of one of the door opening members] lt is extremely desirable that some means he provided for opening garage doors as a motor car approaches them Without necessltating the driver stopping the car and dismounting to unlock the doors and yet provide means for maintaining the doors closed against unauthorized intrusion.

lln order to accomplish the desired result, l have provided a structure which will be extremely efficient in operation. The garage doors 1 are hinged to ,the frame 2 and upon the top beam 3 of the frame are supported a pair of angle plates 4. Each one of these plates l pivotally supports a rotatable memerse c e these b to t t i stud i ate."

the ends oi the tables extend over a centrally arranged pair o't pulleys 16. lhe cables are here joined and extend through a suitable conduit 17 extending along the drive-Way.

At a suitable distance from the garage, the drives 18 are provided with pocket members 19 which are bedded in the cement and each provided with top plates 20 hinged together at the center and supported at the outer ends upon blocks 21.

Plungers 22 are arranged Within the pocket members 19 and engage the underside of the top plates at the center, being held against said top plates by the bowed springs 23. 'lhe lower ends of the plungers 22 are connected to a cross bar 24 which extends between the two pocket members. A casing 25 is arranged centrally between the pocket members 19 and a reciprocable bar 26 extends upwardly from said casing and engages the cross bar 24:- Within the casing is arranged a cam member 27 supported on a pivot 28 and the united cable passing through the conduit 17 passes downwardly over a pulley 29 and around a pulley. 30erranged adjacent to the bottom of the casing and is secured to said cam.

A grooved pulley 31 is secured to the cam 27 and a chain 32 having one end secured to Illtd the cam 27 adjacent to its periphery passes around the pulley 31 and is secured to the free end of a lever 33 arranged within the casing 25. The side walls of the casing 25 are formed with perpendicular slots 34 in which the reciprocating bar 26 is guided, saig bar being bifurcated at its lower end an straddling the chain 32.

A roller 35 is secured in the central slot of the bifurcated end of the bar 26 and bears against the chain. A link 36 is pivotally connected to the lever 33 adjacent to the top end of said lever and the upper and free end of'said link engages a longitudinal slot in the bar 26, and is so arranged that when the bar 26 is depressed the top of the slot pushes the link 36 downwardly, thus- 33 upon'its pivot to draw swinging the lever upon the chain concurrently as the roller 35 carried by the bar 26 pushes downwardly centrally of the chain.

The result of the concerted action of these two members is to pull upon the end of the chain connected to the rotatable cam swinging it upon its pivot to pull upon the cable thereby pulling upon the lock plates 11 and upon the bars 9 to swing the doors open. Each of the bars 9 ride upon a pin 37 arranged in the block 6. and a notch 38 is formed in the underside of the bar to receive the .pin when swung wide open. The notch 38 slopes upwardly and connects with a longitudinal groove 39 in the bar 9, said groove and notch being separated by a spring plate 40 which allows the pin to'pass upwardly but prevents it moving downwardly.

The forward end of the groove 39 slopes downwardly and opens to the underside of 'the bar '9 and is closed by a spring plate 41 so that as the door swings open the bar rides upon the pin past the plate 41 until it reaches the notch 38. The pin fitting in the notch holds the door wide open.

When it is desired to close the door it is opened a slight distance further which causes the pin 37 to push the plate 40 upwardly until the pin enters the groove 39. The door is then swung closed and the pin travels along the groove until it finally springs past the plate 41 to its final position. The lock plates 11 then engage the notches 9 and lock the doorsclos ed.

Suitable counter weighted cables 42 are connected with the doors to assist in drawing them closed.

In the operation of this device, the motor car approaching the garage passes on to the plates 20 arranged in the pocket members 19. The weight of the car presses the plungers 22 downwardly and they, through the cross bar 24 press the bar 26 downwardly and said bar operating against the chain 32 and lever'33 rotates the cam 27 upon its pivot, pulling upon the door operating cables thereby unlocking and swinging the doors upon, their hinges. -As the doors swing open and the bars .9 ride upon the pins 37, said pins eventually enter the notches in the underside of the bars and hold the doors wide open. They remain in this position until the car is stored then they are merely pushed open a little further causing the pins to spring past the platcs lO and when released the counter. weights swing the doors closed, thus rendering the handling of the garage doors extremely simple.

A suitable keyed lock may be provided to enable access to the cables so that the cable may be pulled with the hand in order to operate the lock plate 11 to unlock the door.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In an automatic door opening device, the combination with a door hinged to swing outwardly, of a lever pivotally secured to said door and having a notch in the underside, said notch having an angular end, a groove extending longitudinally of said lever and connected with said notch and having one end opening outwardly to the lower side, a leaf spring closing upon the end ofthe groove and a leaf spring closing the connection between the notch in said groove, a pin supporting said lever and adapted to slip into said notch to lock the lever with the door in the open position and adapted to spring past the leaf spring and to enter the longitudinal groove to allow the door to close, means connected with said lever and operated by the passage of the car to operate said lever to open the door, and means for locking the lever in the open position.

2. In an automatic door opening device, the combination with a hinged door, of a lever connected thereto, a cable secured to the inner end of the lever, a locking member engaging said lever, a cable connected to said lever and extending around said locking member, a depressible plate member arranged in the drive-way, a vertical reciprocable member operated by said depressible plate member, and a cam mcchanismoperated by said reciprocable member and connected with said cable and adapted to open the door.

3. In an automatic door opening device, the combination with a swinging door, a lever secured to the inner side of the door, a cable connected to said lever, pulleys guidingsaid cable, a cam connected to said cable, :1 chain having one end secured to the cam, and a lever connected to the other end of said chain, a vertically reciprocable mem her having a bifurcated end straddling said chain and a roller bearing thereon, and dcpressible plates arranged in a drive-way adaptedto operate said reciprocable member to exert pressure upon the chain and rotate the cam.

eem W 4t, ln rm mrtemetie (leer opening device,

1 a e pair of hinged oloors adapted to swing outwardly, 3L lever member secured to each ,ef seidl doors, locking members engaging 5 seidl lever members, cablee'sec'ured to the mrrer: ends of seldl lever members and com meted with emlel leelmng members end edeptedto Withdraw the locking members and to pull upon the levers, a depressible member arranged in the drive-way, a retateble member connected with said cables,

encl means operated by said depressible member for rotating said rotatable member. JOHN BALAZS. 

